HD Radio

The other day at work, one of my colleagues asked me if I had ever heard of high-definition radio. And I had a prepared response: I had already investigated the subject and discovered that the “HD” in HD radio apparently didn’t stand for for high definition, or for that matter, anything else. “HD’ is part of the brand name chosen by the company that our government rewarded the exclusive contract to for developing and implementing this technology.

In HD radio, an equipped station can broadcast more than one signal at a time. An HD-equipped radio can then separate these signals into different stations. So you can see the great possibilities in this. In Gainesville, not a very big radio market, we have only two stations already broadcasting in HD so far. 89.1-WUFT, the Public Radio station here, has three “channels” on its HD signal: music, news/talk, and “other”, including old-time radio shows. The other station, 97.3-WSKY “The Sky”, broadcasts its HD on two channels. The first is its original right-wing talk show format. The second, which intrigues me, has an album rock format reminiscent of the old 103.5 WSHE and 94.9 Zeta-4 stations I used to listen to in south Florida.

There are more stations than this in Gainesville, though. I am waiting until more get into the HD picture and I have more programming choices. I’d also like to see at least one of these stations put out a channel that features independent/alternative music of the type that 100.5-WHHZ used to play until this year. That type of channel would fit like a glove in this big college town.

Broadcast radio needs to do something radical to give listeners more choices. The current situation does not serve the public’s interests. There are many genres of popular music, and we have the technology to provide them for people to enjoy. And with “opinion” radio, I’m all for conservatives having their voices heard. But more liberal viewpoints are difficult to find on the radio. Hopefully, HD radio will provide an outlet for this expression as well. Well, we’ll see how it all turns out. I’m optimistic but cautious.

Inner Sanctum

I can’t speak for anyone else when writing this particular article, for when it all comes down to it, I have to pass through my own life from the subjective viewpoint of an individual. One of the ideas that I believe in is that, arguments about the ultimate nature of free will aside, I control my mind. Which may sound a little circular if you were to start out with the assumption that it is my mind that is doing the controlling!

But it’s true that I believe this, as silly as this may or may not seem. Furthermore, there is something on the order of a “virtual” place within my mind where I dwell and work on “redesigning” my thoughts and goals. I call this my “inner sanctum”, for obvious reasons.

It’s important to have some kind of battle plan when starting out on my day. Otherwise, I would be bouncing around from one externally-imposed obligation to another, sliding into lethargy and complete self-indulgence between “duty moments”. No, I must design my patterns of thinking and resultant behavior according to a paradigm that includes devotion to responsibilities (with boundaries) but which transcends those obligations, being directed to my own personal aims. With me freely posing difficult questions to myself and mulling over them, testing, and refining my answers according to my developing web of experiences. And to help accomplish this, I stole a page from Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

One of Covey’s habits is “Begin with the end in mind”. The way I interpret this is that I should imagine myself being very old, possibly in my nineties and looking back on how I spent my life for the past forty years. From this day (in September 2008) onward, not going back to my earlier life. And evaluating how wisely I spent my time. To accomplish this, I need to ascertain which values I hold the most strongly and base my imagined “backward” reflections on these values as a yardstick for judgment. And I’m not sure that some of these values would be of the sort that a beauty contest finalist would use to answer the final “big question”!

Do you have a blackboard to write your thoughts on and then erase when they don’t “fit together” right? I do, but it’s back hidden in my garage somewhere. But it seems like it might be a useful tool for my values clarification and goal-definitions. It reminds me of one episode in The Prisoner television series titled Free For All, where the Prisoner is shown by his captor a hidden laboratory that a fellow prisoner, a scientist, is allowed to freely continue his scientific research in without interference. There was a big blackboard in the lab that the scientist would fill with his thoughts and observations. The “authorities” would simply photograph it from time to time to gain the information they wanted. With me, it’s something like that, except that it is I who am holding my own thoughts captive. Maybe I’ll just take digital photos of my own blackboard from time to time!

My Discomfort Zones Update: 9/16

I haven’t been as consistently bold about jumping into areas that I need to be, although I did have some successes. I think that I need to write out some specific goals and just hold myself accountable (on this blog) for fulfilling them. Anyway, I was able to survive some discomfort zone excursions:

--I had to overcome an overwhelming sense of personal incompetence in the area of home improvement, but I did venture into this uncomfortable area a few weeks ago when I measured and laid down tile for my daughter’s bedroom. We’re planning to redo our entire home’s flooring, and now it seems very feasible. About halfway through the tile laying, I cut one of my fingers pretty deeply, but my wife tended to it and I was able to pick up where I left off and finish the task.

--I have been running more and more out on the open road instead of just running the treadmill. It hasn’t been the easiest thing to do, especially with the weather as hot as it has been at times.

--I finally went to my dentist and got help with a mounting tooth problem. She pulled out the tooth fragments that had been left embedded in my gum and prescribed some antibiotic against the infection. A surprisingly pleasant all-around experience from such an uncomfortable, dreaded place to go (the dentist’s office).

There is a whole slew of tasks that I need to just roll up my sleeves and do, one at a time. And all of them reside firmly in my “discomfort zone”. But they’re all necessary, and I WILL DO THEM! Here are a few that I would like to accomplish:

--Clean out the garage.
--Keep the insurance filings current.
--First record, then restrict personal spending.
--Keep various sections of the house clean.
--Inspect areas needing repair in the house.
--Get car maintained.
--Restrict TV/Web time and record efforts.
--Consistently do piano, reading, writing (blog and fiction), and foreign languages and record time spent at them.
--Run daily unless special circumstances prevent this.
--Maintain yard weekly.
--Meet emergency situations head-on and responsibly.

No, I have little worry about running out of discomfort zones any time soon!

Monday Newsbreak: 9/15

--An estimated more than 100,000 residents of the eastern Texas coastal areas directly in the path of Hurricane Ike chose not to heed warnings to evacuate and instead chose to stay and try to ride out the storm. At this writing, more than 600 rescues of stranded residents have been made, but only time will tell how many casualties resulted from decisions to remain instead of fleeing to safety. One might have thought that the disaster at Galveston of 1900, when a hurricane killed around 4000, or even the recent tragedy down the coast caused by Katrina just three years ago, would have been enough warning. And it probably was, for most. But for those who did stay behind, their danger is still ongoing, since the area is full of hazards, including downed power lines, debris, and damaged buildings.

--The level of mud being slung around in this presidential race has reached such epic proportions that I can barely continue to cover it. What may have been the final straw with me was the “pig with lipstick” comment Barack Obama made in reference to a failed policy that the Republicans, including John McCain, immediately blew up as a personal attack against Sarah Palin (Obama was in no way talking about her). Never mind that McCain himself had used the expression on a number of occasions with reference to Hillary Clinton’s take on issues. Don’t those slinging the mud realize that if elected, they will have an impossible task of reconciling half of the country with them? Or do they just seek naked power without regard to any sense of decency? And why do I already know the sad answers to these questions?

--As a response to Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia, The U.S. is stepping up its arms sales to allies in the region, including other former Soviet republics. Georgians living in South Ossetia are reportedly being harassed by local militias into leaving that region for Georgia proper. Although I understand how Russia could feel justified in intervening following the initial Georgian offensive against South Ossetia, allowing the persecution of an ethnic group (the Georgians) in a region under its military control makes its expressed concern about how Russian people living in the various former Soviet republics are treated nothing less than sheer hypocrisy. By putting the West on alert against them, this incursion may have been a very big mistake on their part. At least for the manner in which they executed it.

--In Steve Newman’s great feature Earthweek, ice in the Arctic Ocean has now melted enough to create an open, navigable circle of water for the first time in about 125,000 years, according to experts in the field. Of course, I don’t rightly know who would have been around to navigate the area 125,000 years ago! But this sort of information, which should help put to rest the notion that the melting ice is just part of a natural cycle, is going virtually ignored in the media (except by Mr. Newman). This is happening while a global warming denier is helping to catapult one candidate into the lead in America’s 2008 presidential race. Since we like to pretend that the ice isn’t really disappearing in the polar regions, why don’t we go a little further with our pleasant delusions and just proclaim that everything else is going hunky dory across the world? And bring the troops home.

Scrapbooks

Making scrapbooks became a tradition in my family as I grew up. My mother, my sister, and I all were avid “scrapbookers”. What I would do was go through old magazines lying around the house and cut out interesting pictures and paste them in. Once, when I was a little kid and didn’t know better, I got hold of an old Playboy magazine and cut out some of their comic drawings and pasted them in. And then proudly showed off my scrapbook to my mother. She said, “Billy, where did you get these drawings?” After telling her, she didn’t reproach me, but did make it clear that THAT magazine was off-limits to me!

Although my interest in scrapbooks waned after childhood, my mother continued the hobby. A few years ago, she gave us a scrapbook that she had put together, and I have to say that this was a great personal gift that was very inexpensive but which contained a lot of expression and communication in it. Kind of like a blog!

When I was taking American History at my local community college in the mid-1970s, I had as my instructor an elderly, very opinionated (favoring the political left) man who conducted his class in an unorthodox manner. We had a rather standard textbook that we would study and be tested on. And my teacher would let any student ask about anything they read or see him during his office hours. But the class time itself was dominated by the teacher sitting behind his desk, on top of which was an enormous scrapbook, full of newspaper and magazine clippings that he had inserted within over his many years of interest in history. The topics were not mainstream textbook topics; they were the kind that someone (like me) might have chosen to write blog articles about! But they all dealt with the topic of American history and had a bearing on the period in that history being discussed. And although this teacher’s demeanor was that of stubborn rigidity regarding his own views and angry intolerance regarding others’ dissenting views, his unusual “scrapbook” approach to teaching left his class as an indelible experience in my college education.

I’ve been discovering lately that I often come across an interesting article or editorial letter in my local newspaper and then lose it a few days later when I want to refer to it. I may find that a story may be developing in the news that I’m interested in but which I don’t feel is complete enough for me to write about. Also, it’s sometimes very important to be able to trace the history of how a news story is reported, not just the story itself. Saving piles of newspaper doesn’t cut it, but clipping articles of interest does. So I’m starting my own scrapbook, patterned after that unforgettable, cranky old history instructor’s scrapbook. And the first things to do will be to buy a nice (but cheap) empty scrapbook and then go back through my old newspapers and magazines (that I haven’t thrown away yet) and start snipping and gluing (very selectively)!

I miss my mother greatly. She died of complications arising from lung cancer in 2002. I take after her in many, many ways. She was someone whom I know for a fact that I would have regarded as a very sweet, intelligent woman, even if she weren’t my dear, sweet, intelligent mother. And her use of scrapbooks is something that both inspires me and brings back good memories.

So interest in scrapbooking can be seen in kindly people (like my mother) and in cantankerous people (like my American history teacher). Or it can be seen in someone afflicted with an unstable mixture of the kindly and cantankerous (like me). I’m sure that my scrapbook will be quite different from those of others. I do think I’ll stay away from certain magazines and drawings, though (lesson learned from childhood)!

Cows and Whales

Recently, I noticed an exchange of editorial letters in my hometown “rag”, the Gainesville Sun. One writer wrote to belittle evolution in general and the idea in particular that whales evolved from cows. A few days later, another letter appeared whose writer challenged the first writer to substantiate her views with documentation, particularly the view that anyone had claimed that whales evolved from cows. He also ventured the speculation that this charge had arisen from an “intelligent design” advocate’s works, not from any pro-evolution scientist.

I believe in evolution. If there is such a thing as “intelligent design”, then it must complement, not contradict what is already known about natural selection and species differentiation. If anyone wishes to tailor his/her view of reality to precisely conform with the belief that a certain piece of religious scripture is “infallible”, then that’s all right with me, too. I know several respectable, intelligent people who believe in intelligent design this way. But I operate on the assumption that species evolved over extremely long time spans which are hard for people to get an intuitive feel for. And that the processes of evolution occur on many levels, especially on a submicroscopic molecular level that is equally difficult to picture. Hence, the gross oversimplification about cows and whales.

But I already know that, as mammals, cows and whales do have a common ancestor that was also a mammal, but which has been most probably long, long extinct for several million years. So I set out, with just the Internet, to see how much I could derive about this relationship between cows and whales, as well as their common source.

As it turned out, I didn’t have to go far, for Wikipedia had an excellent article about the evolution of cetaceans. It revealed that, although whales were originally thought to have evolved from carnivorous animals, in the 1990s, DNA and protein analysis seemed to indicate that they stemmed from artiodactyls and bear a close genetic similarity to the hippopotamus. The divergence of what were to eventually become whales, dolphins, and porpoises from other artiodactyls is now thought to have happened around 53-54 million years ago.

The earliest known species that led down the evolutionary road to whales was pakicetus, living about 53 million years ago. Largely linked to later modern cetaceans by its special ear structure, the teeth of pakicetus are also very similar in some aspects to those of fossil whales, according to the article. This article covers a sequence of some species leading up to modern whales: indohyus (48 million years ago), amuocetus, kutchicetus, protocetus, rodhocetus, brachiosaurus, durodon, and later species which were much closer to modern whales.Species from the bovine family, from which modern cattle came, go back to 18-20 million years ago. Their link with whales is rather indirect, the common ancestors going back before the appearance of pakicetus 53 million years ago.

I happen to personally know both the anti-evolution and the pro-evolution editorial letter writers. Both care deeply about this topic and are honest with their expressed opinions. For this I respect both of them, although I wonder how much either of them would respect my own opinions in return were they to read them! What was it that Jesus was reported to have said--Oh yes, it was, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Perhaps the most important thing in successful argumentation is the one thing often completely ignored: value and and show respect to your opponent. And casting them as part of an insidious conspiracy or discounting their opinions because they aren't in the "profession" are definitely NOT signs of respect.

South Ossetia, Russia, and Georgia

I recently read an article published on a Russian news website written by the former president of the South Ossetian Autonomous Region that’s recently become the focus of armed conflict between Russia and Georgia, which had been stuck with the territory when Russian expansion more than two hundred years ago incorporated Georgia along with this region. Later, the Stalin-era policy of splitting up nationalities among the republics reinforced this lumping in of South Ossetia with Georgia.

The Ossetians speak a distinctive language that is in the Iranian group of Indo-European languages. The languages in the area that it most closely resembles are Farsi (Persian) and Pashto, but it is written in the same (albeit modified) Cyrillic script as Russian. Over the years, both Northern and Southern Ossetia have attracted a large ethnically Russian population as well. And since Georgia only gained its true independence in 1991, the idea that South Ossetians immediately thereafter wanted no part in its future is not exactly the same thing as it was in 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the U.S. after being one of the original thirteen states.

I believe the United States is misguided in its condemnation of Russia for militarily intervening in this area after Georgia’s unstable president had South Ossetia’s capital shelled, causing more than a thousand deaths there. Criticism yes, condemnation, no, for any armed incursion in another area, even for the expressed purpose of restraining an agressor, is bound to raise suspicions on the part of others (just ask those opposed to the U.S. military presence in numerous countries scattered across the planet). And military action by its very nature involves destruction (we don't seem to be as worried about that when talking about our own military actions). But does anyone reasonably think that America would have held its own military back if a similar event had happened just across its own borders?

For Russia, Ossetia is a very sensitive area and has a direct bearing on its national security and its own “war on terror”. For it was in Russian North Ossetia where terrorists took over a school in Beslan in September, 2004 and massacred hundreds of innocent people, mostly children, when the authorities stormed the area.

Vladimir Putin is obviously a nationalist who knows that he can enhance his political capital among his countrymen by presenting an image of his country being strong and active on the world scene. But isn’t that what our politicians in America are doing as well? Remember that the Russian state is no longer ideologically-driven as it was with Communism under the old Soviet paradigm. Let’s recognize the Russians for who they really are and not get carried away with paranoia. They have just as much a right to defend their own interests as we do!

So Russia now recognizes South Ossetia as independent, and that region’s former president whole-heartedly approves. From where I am looking at this, Georgia should realize what its best, most stable path for the future is and try to engage its neighbors in as constructive a manner as possible while maintaining friendly ties with the West. South Ossetia looks as if it will opt to become a part of Russia. But that would still be a far, far cry from the accusations I’ve lately been hearing that this great nation has embarked on a campaign of naked imperialist expansion.

I'm not naive about Russia or any other nation. I'm neither a Russophile nor a Russophobe. For those Americans who see all kinds of threats and danger in the latest Russian behavior, I say that I'm a little concerned myself. But also keep in mind that what you're seeing in them is what an awful lot of people across the world see in us as well.

Gender and Presidential Politics

I would have been very content to support Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party nominee had she won the nomination. But she didn’t. Barack Obama won instead, and I’m supporting him. Does that mean that I agree with everything he says? Not by a long shot! But I at least recognize that, after the November election is long over and we all have to reconcile ourselves with whoever ends up in power, what is going to count are the decisions that the new president will be making. Do you want that president to be pro-women or anti-women?

Republican John McCain, who (I think) practiced tokenism by putting an extreme right-wing woman on his ticket (in hope of attracting disaffected Hillary voters), does not believe in enforcing equal pay for equal work whether done by a man or a woman. Democrat Barack Obama, who (I think) foolishly let his pride get in his way by not putting proven vote-getter Hillary Clinton on his ticket, does believe in equal pay for equal work regardless of gender. If you’re a woman reading this, or just happen to believe in the cause of women’s rights, you really should look at things from the perspective of, say--2009 or 2010 looking back. You don’t want a packed Supreme Court beholden to male supremacy, the super wealthy, and large corporate interests. But that’s what you’ll get with a McCain presidency. You don’t want the Family Medical Leave Act so diluted that working women are put into hardship situations while trying to balance family with work. You stand to get that with a McCain presidency. You don’t want women, as they face various health problems, having to choose between food and medicine. Or being forced to remain in dead-end jobs with no hope for advancement simply because they may have pre-existing medical conditions that prevent them from obtaining affordable health insurance from a new employer. You will continue to get that with a McCain presidency. Regardless of what your feelings are about pro-choice vs. pro-life, do you really want the government involved in every sensitive issue that properly belongs within your own family? With a McCain presidency, the state will interfere more than ever before in your own personal decisions, not only with reproductive issues, but also with end-of-life matters (remember the Republicans and the Terri Schiavo “affair” in 2005?). How long do I have to go on to make my point?

Being personally miffed because one’s candidate was defeated is something that people just have to get over. Truthfully, although I believe that Obama’s passing over of Hillary for VP was a mistake, I think that McCain’s refusal to seriously consider Mitt Romney as a running mate is much more telling. For the former Massachusetts governor’s Mormon faith was a big factor in the so-called evangelical base of the Republican Party rejecting him for consideration. The idea that a theocratic element of any party could wield that much leverage should be a very, very scary thing. And if you vote for McCain/Palin, you are voting for that element as well!

If you supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries and believe that Roe vs. Wade should be upheld, then you are not only voting against your convictions if you support McCain: you’re also voting against Hillary Clinton as well! And if you oppose Roe vs. Wade while supporting her, I’m not sure what to say, except that you just might want to get past personalities and images and get more into the content of what the candidates really believe in. If Hillary Clinton were president instead of Barack Obama, she would pretty much be signing the same bills into law that he would, and vetoing the same bills from becoming law that he would as well. Her all-important Supreme Court nominations would be philosophically compatible with his. And all of this would be very, very different from the decisions made in a McCain administration.

McCain & Obama: To See or Not to See

A funny thing happened on my seemingly eternal voyage through time to vote for Barack Obama for president. After all the controversy about John McCain’s divisive and hypocritical (to me) running mate at the Republican Convention last week, the actual presidential candidate finally had the stage all to himself. I was at work during his nomination acceptance speech and, although I didn’t have access at the time to television, I heard his entire address, courtesy of Public Radio. And I was very impressed by his down-to-earth, slow, and clear presentation. He spoke to the audience in a paternal, but not patronizing manner (reminding me a bit of good old (late) Fred Rogers of Misterroger’s Neighborhood fame) that was reassuring and confidence-inspiring. I came away from listening to that speech thinking that he had hit a home run, to be sure. And then I went home and turned on my TV.

Naturally, the news channels were focusing on the last day of the Republican Convention and were replaying McCain’s speech. But instead of being entranced by it, as I watched McCain I became more and more irritated by his visual delivery. He seemed very uncomfortable and made a nuisance of continually batting his eyes whenever he wanted to make a point. As a matter of fact, just about everything I saw about him belied everything that I had heard from him. Suddenly, what had at first seemed like a great speech had transformed into a rather humdrum, mediocre one.

I’ve heard that, when John F. Kennedy debated Richard Nixon in the first presidential debates in 1960, a similar phenomenon occurred. Polling done immediately after the debate showed that listeners who only heard the debate on the radio generally felt that Nixon had won, but those who had seen it on television were convinced that Kennedy had won. What a difference between television and radio!

And I think that Barack Obama also presents a different effect on the audience, depending on whether it is a television or a radio audience. I’ve heard him on the radio, and he often seemed to be a little disoriented and grasping for words. But when watching him speak in similar situations, his face and mannerisms skillfully supported what he was saying and contributed to a feeling of empathy and understanding between him and his audience.

Try it some time: when either McCain or Obama are on TV giving a speech or an interview, first close your eyes and critique their audio output. Then open your eyes and see if your reaction doesn’t drastically change. I think it will! Of course, with McCain you may understandably choose to keep your eyes closed!

Monday Newsbreak: 9/8

--The secular People’s Party candidate for Pakistan’s presidency easily won election in that important, troubled nation in an election that carries important lessons for our own. Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated party leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, represents the majority sentiment in Pakistan of the desire to have a society devoted to civil rights, respect for diversity, and full integration into the world community. As such, he opposes the xenophobic and religiously narrow, intolerant, and violent minority who want to establish a theocracy and throw out Western influences (including democracy and civil rights). I think most countries have this sort of tension between those believing in social and scientific progress and those “my way or the highway” types who see anyone disagreeing with their religion or politics as part of an evil conspiracy that must be warred against. Although, in America, we don’t see the terrorism that exists in Pakistan, there are still groups that frame their xenophobia and religious bigotry in similar ways to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda sympathizers in Zardari’s land. Only their professed faith isn’t fundamentalist/political Islam; it’s fundamentalist/political Christianity. And now they have a voice in this election: Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Due to his regrettable, short-sighted, and cynical selection of Palin as running mate, I now see the possible election of McCain to be president as a potentially dangerous development. I’m counting on either my fears about Palin being dispelled by her own words or having those words eventually expose her extremism to the rest of the nation before the election (and before it’s too late). No, Palin is certainly not Al-Qaeda, but she does seem (to me) to promote a mindset that runs in opposition to the great American traditions of inclusion and progress.

--NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has revealed in an e-mail what I had been suspecting for some time: President Bush, in spite of his public pronouncements about establishing a Moon base and seriously preparing for a manned Mars voyage, in fact has no interest in either of these projects. Apparently, our president was only interested in scrapping the Space Shuttle program and used the carrots of returning to the Moon and exploring beyond to get people at the agency to work at shutting it down. The result: without any real funding for new ventures, the next president will probably just keep running the Space Shuttles, as old and outdated as they are, without implementing any new plans. But, as I see it, this is nothing new. The only presidents who have shown any real interest in our space program were Eisenhower and Kennedy. Johnson was indifferent, and Nixon was the first of a string of presidents who deliberately set out to sabotage our manned space exploration efforts. Ironically, if Vice-President Spiro Agnew, even with his public image as an anti-intellectual, had survived his 1973 income tax scandal and had succeeded Nixon (instead of leaving it to Gerald Ford) after Watergate, we might have been able to revitalize our space program. For Agnew was very captivated by our Apollo successes and was eager to get started, even in 1969, on plans to land on Mars!

--Hurricane Ike keeps altering its trajectory and now appears headed to the Gulf of Mexico after it batters the southern Bahamas, Haiti, and Cuba (which seems to be happening way too often this year). Then, if it hits Texas or Florida, expect an appropriate, measured disaster preparation response. But if it heads straight at Louisiana, then expect more ridiculous statements by New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin and ridiculous meddling by presidential candidate-turned-shameless-opportunist John McCain.

--The University of Florida Gators football team, with a little timely help from a questionable call by the officials (ruling an obviously incomplete long pass as being complete), were able to finally pull away from a tough University of Miami Hurricanes team and win 26-3. Now here’s what got me. The Vegas “line” on the game had the Gators favored by 21 and a half points. And they had built up a 23-3 lead late in the game. With time running out on the clock, Florida had the ball deep in Hurricane territory and could have just run out the clock, as was the expected custom of sportsmanship in these types of situations. Instead, they decided to kick a field goal, giving them a 23 point victory margin and beating the Vegas spread. H-m-m-m!!!

This season represents a departure for me: it’s the first time since the early 1980’s that I am not enthusiastically rooting for the Gators. I’m sensing a rather ugly streak of sports fanaticism and hero worship (of Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer) in this community that repels me. When Florida goes up to Knoxville to play Tennessee, I may well actually pull for the Volunteers, who have won my respect with their likable coach Phillip Fulmer. Plus, I dig Knoxville! (Of course, I understand that in the nineties, the Tennessee fans went a little over the top idolizing Peyton Manning as well.)

My Piano Update: 9/6

Unfortunately, I've let other things get in the way of simply taking a few minutes each day to practice my piano. There have been lessons missed due to holidays and injury (I cut one of my fingers badly a few days ago, though it's now nicely healed). Like so many things in life, it's all down to getting oneself into the habit of just doing it. So all of those great, ambitious ideas I laid out last time about devoting time to music theory and playing from memory came to naught. But that's why I am doing these updates: I can't keep writing disappointing articles like this. I know what my goals are about piano. But it may be necessary to set some more "public accountability" goals to rivet my attention to practicing properly. And by that I mean doing public performances. After all, last February's recital did make me practice more. Anyway, it's something to look into if I can't get my act together in front of the keyboard.

My NFL Predictions For 2008

Well, once again it’s that time of year for this very amateur fan of the National Football League to put out my hunches about how the season will play itself out among the various teams. My traditional favorite, the Miami Dolphins, looks to vastly improve on last year’s 1-15 disaster (although in fairness it must be said that many of those losses came in very close, competitive games). My least favorite team continues to be the Dolphins’ arch-rival New England Patriots. The crowning moment of last season came with about 35 seconds to go in the Super Bowl when the upstart New York Giants captured the lead and the NFL Championship, ruining New England’s “perfect” season and putting a (temporary) cap on their arrogance and cheating. Needless to say, come hell or high water, I’m now a New York Giants fan as well! Go Eli Manning!

I claim no expertise whatsoever with the teams, their players and coaches. I do know that the Dolphins have vastly improved in just about every area and should be able to count on veterans such as quarterback Chad Pennington and running back Ricky Williams, barring injuries (or with Williams, suspensions). I don’t expect the Dolphins to win it all, but I believe they do have a shot at an 8-8 season. And at least a split with those pesky Patriots.

Here is my rundown on how I see the standings at the season’s end:

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

EAST
1. New England
2. MIAMI
3. New York Jets
4. Buffalo

SOUTH
1. Jacksonville
2. Indianapolis
3. Tennessee
4. Houston

NORTH
1. Cleveland
2. Pittsburgh
3. Cincinnati
4. Baltimore

WEST
1. San Diego
2. Oakland
3. Denver
4. Kansas City

******************

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

EAST
1. Dallas
2. NEW YORK GIANTS
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington

SOUTH
1. New Orleans
2. Tampa Bay
3. Carolina
4. Atlanta

NORTH
1. Minnesota
2. Green Bay
3. Detroit
4. Chicago

WEST
1. Seattle
2. Arizona
3. St. Louis
4. San Francisco

My far-out Super Bowl pick?
San Diego beats Dallas! [Of course, I'd prefer to see the Dolphins facing the Giants.]

REM's Man-Sized Wreath

Now that's the REM I've come to love! OWW!

Broken Tooth Blues

I have been suffering for a few days from a lower back tooth that mostly chipped off after the filling that was in it came out, leaving an infected gum area with tooth fragments sticking out. Ouch! Fortunately, I have a very good, kindly dentist who removed the fragments from the gum yesterday and put me on antibiotics. Although it aches some, I feel that I am well on the road to recovery.

When an infection affects a part of my body, even if it seems minor, the whole body can suffer as a result. I remember the time a few decades ago (late 1979) when I accidentally cut into one of my fingers pretty deep and had allowed it to become infected. I came down with what seemed like severe flu symptoms, which lasted for days and wouldn't get better. When I finally saw a doctor, he diagnosed the problem, put me on antibiotics, and within a couple of days I had drastically improved.

This past tendency for me to ignore my own developing health problems when I was single is still regrettably a (hopefully shrinking) part of my personality. Fortunately, I have a wonderful wife who looks out for me! But, sheesh, I am in my fifties and should be a little quicker about addressing my own health concerns by this stage of my life.

Hurricane Bowling Alley

Right now, the Atlantic Ocean looks like a bowling alley, with the balls being hurricanes rolled out in rapid succession. And they all seem to be headed our way (and we‘re the pins)!

First Fay pretty much traced its path over the entire state of Florida, soaking it and virtually eliminating the drought and concomitant fire hazard that has plagued us for some time. Then Gustav slipped into the Gulf of Mexico, slamming Louisiana and spinning off some storms over us in north central Florida. Now Hannah is a hurricane and is dawdling around the southern Bahamas before it will supposedly pass Florida to the east (spinning off more storms at us) and hitting the Carolinas. In the mid-Atlantic is tropical storm Ike, soon to be a hurricane as well, with a projected path having it taking Hannah’s current position. And even further east is a tropical depression almost certain to become Josephine [correction: it has become Josephine].

So, in the span of less than two weeks, we’re talking about Fay, Gustav, Hannah, Ike, and Josephine. Okay, you up there, I get it; this is a busy hurricane season! But would you mind spacing out your rolls a little more? Or better yet, why not sit down and take a little break? At least roll some gutter balls, will ya?

Moral Hypocrisy and Politics

In light of the revelation that Republican vice-presidential candidate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s seventeen-year old (unmarried) daughter is five-months pregnant, Democratic opponent Barack Obama has proclaimed “hands off” this issue. I’m assuming that he isn’t talking to me, since, even if he becomes president, he can’t tell me what I can say or not say. Besides, the issue with this matter that concerns people isn’t the pregnant daughter, but rather her mother.

And the mother is a politician who has wielded her power in public office to enforce her vision of what is “moral” on the entire population regardless of their religious orientation. That includes insisting on abstinence-only-based sex education in Alaskan taxpayer-funded public schools, with the idea that showing methods and availability of contraception is immoral. And I suppose, if someone else’s teenage daughter became pregnant, that would be immoral as well. But since Sarah Palin is on the “right” side of the political spectrum, Focus on the Family's Christian Ayatollah Dr. James Dobson is all beside himself with fulsome praise for the Alaska governor. Tell me with a straight face that he would be reacting in the same way toward a liberal Democrat!

There is a concept tossed around in conservative Christian intellectual circles called “moral relativism”. The idea behind this is that it is impossible to determine whether a behavior is moral or immoral without placing it in its proper context. And conservative Christians have railed incessantly that this is a trait of “secular humanism” designed to dilute God’s absolute standards of morality. Yet conservative Christians like Sarah Palin and James Dobson seem to have no problem with shifting into this mindset whenever the behavior in question touches upon them in any way.

Look, this sort of thing can happen in any family, the way I see it. It’s a delicate matter that belongs to the concerned family to resolve. And that’s why I think that folks like Palin and Dobson are despicable in that they are the ones who set out to tell other families how to behave. While pushing for the police power of the state to enforce their views on others. What hypocrites!

Monday Newsbreak: 9/1

--Hurricane Gustav is hitting the Louisiana coast as this article comes out in the early morning hours. There is great concern in New Orleans as to the viability of their levee system, some sections of which still haven’t been properly repaired. But those in authority apparently have learned Katrina’s lessons and evacuated the low-lying city in anticipation of any unforeseen levee breeches. Meanwhile, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is back to his old patterns of hyperbole, terming Gustav as “the mother of all storms” and “the storm of the century” only three years after his city was devastated by Katrina with enormous loss of life.

--Due to Gustav, the Republicans are cutting back on their convention activities this week, at least for Monday’s first day. They are taking no chances at possibly being accused of indifference towards those victimized by this storm. President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Texas Governor Perry, and Louisiana Governor Jindal are all getting into “position” around Gustav. John McCain and Sarah Palin made a public (i.e. campaign) appearance at a Mississippi emergency action center. Why? And McCain said in an interview that he may make his acceptance speech by satellite from the Gulf area. Why (again)? Why doesn’t he just stay out of the way and let the people do their work there?!

--Speaking of Sarah Palin, how much of an asset or a liability to McCain’s quest for the presidency she’s going to be comes down to two factors. One, does Palin have something embarrassing from her past that could trip up the campaign? And two, the more she speaks and interacts with the press, what is the developing national image of her going to be? But let’s keep in mind that people are still going to primarily vote based on McCain vs. Obama as the chief presidential candidates, not on the second-fiddles.

--This past Tuesday saw only about 25% of the registered voters actually voting in local elections here in Alachua County. The incumbents, some of whom I voted for and some of whom I didn’t, pretty much sailed through to their reelections with only a couple of them being defeated (one by a former incumbent). And I wondered how many of those who didn’t bother to take just a few minutes and exercise their civic responsibilities to vote actually support Bush’s Iraq War and its rationale of establishing democracy there on the other side of the world, even at the sacrifice of thousands of our brave soldiers.

McCain Chooses Palin As VP

So John McCain picked a very inexperienced politician to be one heartbeat from the presidency. Sarah Palin, who became governor of Alaska after McCain and Barack Obama started running for president, is on the ticket for one reason: she is a woman and that, according to McCain’s thinking, means that women who supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign will turn out in large numbers and vote for someone who is Hillary’s ideological opposite, just because she is a woman. I don’t think this strategy is going to fly, though. And if it doesn’t, there is a big danger on this selection ultimately ranking right up there with McGovern’s Tom Eagleton VP pick in ‘72 and George W. Bush’s Harriet Miers Supreme Court pick in ‘05 for bad decisions.

Of course, conservative talking heads are generally playing up McCain’s choice as being a stroke of genius, but crotchety right-wing radio host Michael Savage has a different take. Savage said he’s come to the conclusion that McCain has decided that he wants to lose in November. I have another conclusion.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama have, as I see it, two problems. One, they have such massive, bloated egos that neither could stand to have as running mates people who have demonstrated their ability to attract support and loyalty from voters. People like Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. No, McCain and Obama have to always be the big shots. Which isn’t a good sign for the future, regardless who wins in the end. Second, I wonder how much these two are allowing others to call their shots for them behind the scenes. That may seem to contradict the view that they are egomaniacs, but our current president seems to fit both descriptions aptly.

Sarah Palin is a very staunch conservative who opposes a woman’s right to choose. Just how many of those Hillary supporters are going to jump parties, once that one solid fact seeps through past their resentment against Obama? Very few, I think. Governor Palin does have one thing going in her favor, though: she hasn’t thought of any more countries for us to invade. Yet. But she’s inexperienced, after all. Who knows what she’ll come up with, given a little time? After all, she’s going to have to go up against Mr. “Crush-the-Enemy” Joe Biden in the vice-presidential debate later on.

Saturday Afternoon Ramblings

Here I am on a Saturday afternoon, sitting in my favorite Gainesville Starbucks at Magnolia Parke on NW 39th Avenue. I had just finished running at my local YMCA and then cleaned up and came out here for a little bit. It’s not as crowded here at Starbucks as I had thought, it being a big “game-day” here in Gainesville with a lot of visitors.

The University of Florida Gators just won their first football game of the 2008 season by a 56-10 score over Hawaii at home. I thought they played together more as a team this game than at any time last year. And their defense seems to be vastly improved. If UF had played a smaller college, then there would be no way of knowing this. But Hawaii is itself a good team. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Gators do in the coming weeks against Miami and Tennessee.

My son Will just came home from college for the Labor Day break and my daughter Rebecca is celebrating her birthday this weekend as well. Right now, they’re checking out our Oaks Mall with Melissa (my wife/their mother) and a friend of Rebecca’s.

I’ve gotten to where I like the café Americano as my favorite drink here. It’s not much more expensive than the drip coffees, but it tastes better. I also had an almond-toffee bar, my favorite of their desserts (now that they no longer serve their scrumptious coconut-cheese danishes for some unfathomable reason).

It’s interesting, noting the tropical weather we’re experiencing today in Gainesville, how a tropical storm as far away as Gustav is (south of Cuba) can extend its influence for hundreds of miles. It reminded me of the time in 1985 when hurricane Juan hit Louisiana and then just sat there for days, flooding that state and spinning off wave after wave of severe storms over Gainesville. I feel for the people living there now as the present hurricane threatens to cause suffering and damage when it most probably strikes them in a few days. Hopefully, the authorities there will get it “right” this time after the Katrina debacle.

Well, I’ve finished my dessert and coffee. I’ll be heading on back to the house now. Until later!

My Running Update: 8/30

My planned 5K road race on 8/23 was postponed until 10/4 due to tropical storm Fay. So the next opportunity to run competitively will be a 5K race on 9/13 (I’ve already jogged through that course). There’s a 4-mile race on 9/20 as well. Assuming of course, they don’t get bumped off by a hurricane further down the alphabet.

I ran more outside, and tried different improvised courses. I’m beginning to feel more comfortable running on solid ground instead of solely on the treadmill. This may be largely due to me rediscovering my ability to pace myself over longer distances and settle into a sustainable “groove”. Ah yes---after thirty-plus years, it’s all starting to come back to me!

I had planned to run certain days of the week cross-country, certain days on the treadmill, and one day per week on a running track. But the demands of my daily living, along with weather disturbances, caused me to veer from this. And lately, I’ve missed out on running on some days. But this is just a brief hiatus. I’ve got some fun races in store, and the temperatures are bound to get generally cooler.

Ultimately, I want to get to the point where I am going on 5-plus mile runs each day while resorting to the treadmill as little as possible. And maybe in 2010, if all goes well, I may run my first marathon race.

Here’s my running record since the last update (I denoted my own improvised outdoor courses with “x-country”):

DATE....MILES...TIME....MEANS
7-19..........2.0......10:12.....x-country
7-21..........1.0........6:64.....treadmill
7-22.........0.6........5:28.....x-country
7-23.........3.0.......21:28....treadmill
7-24.........2.0.......15:16.....track
7-25.........2.5........17:40....treadmill
7-26.........3.0.......21:09....treadmill
7-28.........2.0.......19:00....x-country
7-29.........2.0.......13:41.....treadmill
7-30.........1.0.........6:36.....treadmill
7-31..........2.5.......18:40....treadmill
8-02.........2.35.....21:52....Ormond Beach course
8-04.........2.0......19:05.....x-country
8-05.........2.5.......17:23.....treadmill
8-06.........1.27.....10:30.....x-country
8-07.........3.11......23:02....treadmill
8-09.........3.5.......25:58....treadmill
8-11..........1.0.........7:14.....treadmill
8-12.........4.0.......29:33....treadmill
8-13.........3.11......24:33.....track
8-14.........4.0.......29:24....treadmill
8-15.........3.11......27:26.....x-country
8-16.........4.0.......35:27.....x-country
8-18.........5.0.......37:18.....treadmill
8-20........1.5........11:14......treadmill
8-20...1 ymca-lap @ 1:29
8-21..........1.0.........6:58......treadmill
8-21...2 ymca-laps @ 3:20
8-22........1.2.........9:02.....treadmill
8-23........2.0.......15:03.....treadmill
8-23........1.6........14:41.....x-country
8-25........2.0.......14:50.....treadmill
8-27........1.0..........7:35.....treadmill
8-27...2 ymca-laps @ 3:04
8-30........2.3.......17:31......treadmill